Re: Apple IIe PC to Disk without serial connection

[pausch@saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <WqCcndQ_zcufAGOjXTWJkg@comcast.com>,
Bill Garber <willy46pa@comcast.net> wrote:
 
>>> It takes more than just a 5.25" floppy drive...floppy drives on the
>>> Apple II used a completely different (and incompatible) recording
>>> method, so you would need some sort of interface card that supported
>>> it.  Good luck finding one of those.
>>
>> One way could be to get a Catweasel advanced floppy controller for
>> your PC: it allows you to read any floppy format on the PC, including
>> the Apple II GCR format.  For more info, check out:
>>
>> http://members.tripod.com/~apd2/catweasl.htm
>> http://www.tim-mann.org/trs80resources.html
>>
>> Those controllers aren't cheap though --- which is to be expected since
>> most likely not many are sold.
> 
> Another problem with the CatWeasel is that they are not
> designed for Windows or DOS,
 
...excuse me, but how do you design a specific bit of HARDWARE for Windows
or DOS ?????  Or do you just mean that software for Windows or DOS doesn't
get delivered with the hardware?
 
> Linux I believe is where they are at the moment and you need to build
> your own software driver AFAIK.
 
If so, they're not "designed for Linux" either....
 
So it's a piece of hardware without any software, but presumably with
enough info about the hardware to enable anyone so inclined to write
its own software for it.
 
I also would guess it's made for the ISA bus rather than the PCI bus,
which would mean it won't work on the most modern PC's, i.e. those
without any ISA slots.
 
Personally, if I got one of those boards (I won't) I would start by
writing a DOS application which would be the equivalent to ADT but
for the Catweasel rather than a serial port: copy the entire Apple II
disk to a .DSK image -- or copy a .DSK image to the entire Apple II
disk.
 
> I haven't been to the site in over a month so I'm not sure if they
> have made any changes or improvements on the PC version. Amiga is
> the one I think which is complete with installable software. ;-)
 
-- 
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